Skyscraper butts in

TALLEST: The 52 storey, 209-metre tall commercial development by Shanghai-based New Development Group (NDG).

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It's all progress.

That's how an Elliott St business-owner is taking the news that his shops will need to make way for a new skyscraper.

A 52-storey building planned for the long-vacant site on the corner of Victoria and Elliott streets is due for completion in 2020.

The Chinese developer New Development Group hopes to have building consent by next year.

At 209 metres the $350 million NDG Auckland Centre is set to be New Zealand's tallest inhabited building, beaten in height only by the Sky Tower. It will include a 302-room hotel, apartments, a cinema, restaurants, shops and sky decks.

Mick Odonoghue signed a three-year lease for his line of eatery stalls, called Saint Michael's Alley, in Elliott St nine months ago but is not concerned.

"It's about progress. You've got to build a city and if we want to keep up with the rest of the world then this is the way to do it. A lot of the buildings around here are due a makeover as well," he says

Victoria St's air bungy Skyscreamer will also be looking for a new location if construction goes ahead.

The site has been used as a car park since the Royal International Hotel was demolished in the late 1980s.

Mayor Len Brown welcomes the project.

"This will be a world class development for Auckland that will create hundreds of new jobs, energise the CBD and boost Auckland's GDP," he says.